The Marauders
by HippogriffRider77
Summary: Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs go to Hogwarts... and so the Marauders begin.
1. Chapter 1

James Potter was an ordinary boy; he had two parents, and lived in a house with three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room and a lovely backyard garden. His parents were both successful in their jobs, and gave James as much as they could to keep him alive.

And then, on James' eleventh birthday, August thirteenth, an official looking eagle owl swooped through the kitchen window and landed on his mother's countertop.

"The mail's here, dear," his mother, Joanne told his father, taking the letter from the owl, "oh, terrific! James, this is terrific! Absolutely wonderful…it's for you."

James rose from his seat at the kitchen table, and walked over to where his mother was standing, holding the letter outstretched to him with a smile of pride so long that it frightened James.

James' father, Rupert, walked in from the study and saw the official looking seal on the back of the envelope, "Go ahead, then, James! Open it."

James, unaware of what the letter with the odd addressing-it said: _James Potter, the second largest bedroom-_meant, opened it slowly, to see two pieces of parchment sealed inside.

One was a list of supplies; such as, an owl, rolls of parchment, fresh quills, a size twelve pewter cauldron, and a list of books. The other, was a letter; an acceptance letter to a school he'd waited eleven years for.

On a street a few streets away, another eleven year old boy, this one named Remus Lupin, was receiving an acceptance letter, too.

His neighbor, Peter Pettigrew, was reading his letter out on the front lawn of his house.

Little did any of the three boys know that a few towns away, in a house protected from everyone outside of it by magic, a fourth boy was reading his letter aloud to his mother, father, and little brother in the kitchen.

And little did the four boys know that in a few weeks, they would become thick as thieves and the Marauders of Hogwarts.

A few weeks later, only days before the first of September, when they would be going to school, the four boys went to Diagon Alley; a wizarding alley that they would be getting their school things at.

James walked into Eeylop's Owl Emporium, and started looking at the owls near the back of the shop. As he started looking at a large tawny owl, a boy his age walked towards the owls, accidentally knocking a container of rat pellets to the ground. Not kneeling to pick them up, he walked over to James.

"Wonder who knocked those over," he said, looking at the pricing on the owls.

"I dunno… surely it wasn't you," James laughed, looking around to see if anyone had seen the pellets fall to the ground.

"Oh, surely," the other boy laughed, "my name's Sirius; Sirius Black. I'm a pure-blood."

"I'm James; a pure-blood, too."

"Are you going to Hogwarts this year, too?"

"Well, I got my acceptance letter, so yeah, I am."

"Which House are you going for? My whole family's been in Slytherin. I don't really get a choice to want a different House."

"I haven't thought of it, much. I guess when it comes down to it, I'd prefer to be in Gryffindor."

"I want Gryffindor, too, but unlike you, I don't get a say in it."

"Doesn't the Sorting Hat take your choices into consideration, though? It's what I've heard."

"The Hat also takes into consideration your heritage," Sirius said, grimacing, "so, really, I don't stand a chance of being in Gryffindor."

"How does it matter what House your family's been in?" James asked, moving on to look at the smaller owls of the collection for sale.

"I dunno… my dad says it does, though," Sirius told him, following him and stepping over the pellets he had dropped.

"I guess we'll find out in a few days then, won't we?"

James found a Great Gray owl near the back and, after checking the price, took it's cage towards the front of the store to pay.

"I guess we will."

Sirius had followed James to the counter, and was now looking at the rat crates in front.

After paying, James went to where Sirius was observing the rats, "Do you have an owl already?"

"Wha-oh, yeah. I was just looking at them um… weasels."

"If you have an owl, what's the need for a rat?"

"To mess with my brother."

"How old's your brother?"

"He's a year under us… rotten git… it's a quite joy to mess with him."

"How is he a git?"

James waited while Sirius picked out a rat and paid for it, and the boys walked out into the bright, busy streets of Diagon Alley.

"He just is… if you met him you'd understand. Always Mum and dad's favorite… even the house-elf likes him best."

"The _house-elf _even favorites him? That sounds like a rubbish household…no offense, of course."

"None taken, honestly. My house is an awful place."

The boys were now walking into Madam Malkin's robe Shoppe.

"Now, now, Peter, we'll find a new rat for you, dear," a woman was telling her sobbing child near the back of the front room, "where did you last see Rekat?"

"I…I don't know! I thought… I thought I brought him in with me…but he's _gone!_" the boy sobbed, clinging to the wall and turning quite red in the face.

James and Sirius shared a look just as a disheveled looking woman emerged from a nearby hallway, "Oh, hello, boys, I'll be with you in just a moment," she said, turning towards the crying boy, "now dear, I believe this is your rat?" she asked, opening her hands to show a small and fragile looking rat.

"Rekat! Oh, thank you, Madam Malkin!" the boy exclaimed, eagerly taking the rat.

"Peter, I'm going to look for your school books, okay, dear?" his mother asked, seemingly pleased at the new development.

"Okay, Mum." the boy was obviously too thrilled to have his rat back to care what his mother did.

His mother left the store, leaving James and Sirius with the lady of the shop and the boy who was now hugging his rat to his chest.

"Now, what can I help you with boys?" Madam Malkin asked, walking over to James and Sirius, who were still standing by the door.

"Do you have time to help us get school robes?" Sirius asked, setting the rat's cage down; James followed this action, setting his owl next to the rat.

"Of course, dear. It's almost time for school! You'll both be going to Hogwarts, I assume?"

The boys nodded, and in the back of the room, the small boy spoke up for the first time, "I'm going there, too!"

All Sirius and James could do was smile at the boy and nod at Madam Malkin, who went into the back and came out with two pairs of robes.

Sirius went up first, and Madam Malkin tossed the first set of robes over his head and started measuring.

"Excuse me, is this Madam Malkin's?" a voice trailed from the doorway.

James turned to see who was asking, and saw a tired looking boy standing in the doorway.

"Oh yes, dear, I'll be with you soon," Madam Malkin said, barely looking up from Sirius' robes.

James moved over so the boy could walk into the shop and be able to close the door.

"Remus? You're going to Hogwarts, too?" the boy with the rat said, sounding surprised.

"Hello to you too, Peter. Yes, I am," the fourth boy-Remus-told Peter.

Peter sighed in relief, "That takes a lot of the pressure off of my shoulders; at least I'll know somebody there."

"Hogwarts is nothing to worry about, boys," Madam Malkin was still invisible to James and Remus, as she was still buried in robes.

"I would think you'd be excited about Hogwarts, erm, Peter?" James asked, looking at Remus, who nodded. Peter, it would seem, was indeed the boy's name.

"Oh, I am! It's Hogwarts, right? Who wouldn't be excited for Hogwarts?"

"Only those who are mentally terrified of their powers," Sirius sniggered from somewhere inside the pile of robes covering his head.

James and Remus laughed, and, as if in an attempt to impress the others, Peter joined in.

Remus turned towards James, "Remus Lupin." "James; James Potter."

The two shook hands.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew," the boy with the rat said, waving at both of the boys in the front.

A little while later, Sirius was finished with his fitting for school robes, to James, Remus and Peter's gratefulness.

After all of the boys had been fitted, James and Sirius left the shop and headed towards the book shop; Remus tagged along, as his parents were still at the Leaky Cauldron.

"So this is Flourish and Blotts_,_" Sirius said, looking at the hundreds of bookshelves.

"_The Standard Book of Spells: Year One, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, _and _Hogwarts, a History,_" James read off of his list, looking at both boys, "why do we need so many books?"

Sirius and Remus both shrugged.

"How long d'you reckon it's going to take to find all of these?" Sirius asked, looking at the list.

"I dunno; hopefully not all day."And so the three boys set off in _Flourish and Blotts _together, looking for their books.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sirius Black!" James Potter yelled, pushing his trolley towards the boy standing on the platform by himself, "I was hoping I'd get to see you here."

"Potter! I figured your parents would have gotten you onto the train by now," Sirius said, looking over at him.

"Are you joking? I'm hiding from my parents; I got up this morning and went downstairs, and my mother was _crying _over the bacon because she was so emotional about sending me away to Hogwarts."

"That's _nothing. _I got up to see the house-elf holding this tray of food, just standing there watching me."

"Well, did you eat the food?"

"Of course not; Kreacher thinks it's his life mission to poison me. I wasn't taking any chances. Of course, my parents probably promised him his freedom in exchange to try to talk me into wanting Slytherin."

"Tell me it didn't work. That would be terrible for both of us."

"Hell, of course it didn't work. I'm still going to Gryffindor…but if you ever hear from my family, I'm going for Slytherin. At last until the Sorting. After that, I'll deal with whatever I get."

"James, there you are! We were worried that you had already gotten on the train and we hadn't been able to say goodbye," Joanne Potter walked over to her son, Rupert Potter following behind. "Who's your friend?"

"This is—"

"Sirius Back, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you," Sirius said quickly, shaking hands with both of James' parents. "Quidditch player, spell caster, and wizardry extraordinaire." Sirius grinned.

"I'm so glad to see that James has already made a friend," Joanne said, smiling at Sirius. "It makes me feel better about sending him away for the next ten months—"

"Let's not embarrass James before he can even see the castle, Jo," Rupert said, to which he got a thankful look from James. "Is there a certain House that you're aiming for, Sirius?"

"Gryffindor, sir. Definitely want to be a lion."

"I'm starting to see why you and James are friends."

"Oi, Black," James said, nodding behind Sirius. "That'd be Lupin, wouldn't it?"

Sirius looked over his shoulder to see one of the other boys from Diagon Alley lifting his bags into the side of the train, his father helping.

"Remus!" Sirius yelled, and once he looked up, he waved him over, "Over here!"

Remus said something to his dad and walked over to the others.

"Sirius and James, pleasure to see you. Have either of you seen Peter? He said he would be leaving soon when I left, but I haven't seen him," he looked up and saw the Potter parents. "Hello, Remus Lupin, pleasure." He said holding his hand out.

"Joanne Potter, and this is my husband, Rupert. Feel free to call us by our names, and not Mr. and Mrs." Joanne said, shaking his hand, "That goes for you as well, Sirius."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Remus said, introducing his father when he reached them.

"I'm so glad that James already has two friends for school," his mother said. "I was so worried."

"Remus has always been shy, so this is reassuring for me as well," Mr. Lupin said, and James nodded towards the train, looking at the others, and they used it as a chance to make their escape.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, the clock at King's Cross Station struck eleven and the train started moving.<p>

"Has _nobody _seen Peter?" Remus asked, waving at his father through the window as James waved to his parents.

"He probably lost his rat again," Sirius said, leaning into the seat.

The door to the compartment burst open, and Peter Pettigrew tumbled in, his pet rat grasped tightly in his hand.

"Sorry that I'm late!" he gasped, falling into the seat across from Sirius, "My mother and I were at the station on time, but Rekat got out and we had to find him. I'm glad that I found all of you."

"That rat gets out all the time, Peter," Remus said, sitting next to him. "Why don't you just get him a cage?"

"We did…oh, no! I left the cage at home!"

Sirius laughed and shook his head, "You and your rat. Someday that thing's going to end up getting lost."

The door to the compartment opened, and James looked up from the window to see a girl with bright red hair and green eyes standing there next to a guy with greasy black hair.

"Can we sit here?" she asked, looking uncomfortable. "Everywhere else is full."

"You can," James said, sitting next to Sirius. "Greasy here should find another compartment."

The girl rolled her eyes and walked into the compartment, stepping over all of the legs before sitting wedged into the corner, the boy sitting next to her.

"Are you still hoping for Slytherin, Severus?" she asked, looking towards the boy.

"Like always, Lil; if you get Slytherin too, we'll be able to hang out all the time."

"Slytherin?" James interrupted, glaring at the boy with greasy hair, "You actually _want _to be in Slytherin house?"

"Can't you mind your own business?" the girl asked, rolling her eyes, "It's impolite to barge in on other people's _private _conversations."

"Yeah? Well hasn't anybody ever told _you _that it's rude to bring the greasy trash onto the train with you?"

"Don't talk to him like that!" she screeched.

"Why not? Afraid he'll stop being your boyfriend if I'm mean to him?"

"He isn't my—"

"You're the Potter kid, aren't you?" the greasy-haired boy said, cutting her off, "You are, aren't you? No wonder you're such a prick, and you think you're better than me."

"Come on, Severus, cut it out, he's not worth it."

"Yeah, Snivellous," Sirius spoke up, leaning back. "Don't act like I don't know who you are. I've seen you walking around before, pretending like you're a decent wizard. Well, I've seen you trying to attempt to do magic, and it's miserable. You're only going to make a fool of yourself, Snivellous."

"Don't call him that!" the girl shrieked again.

"Snivellous Greasy." Sirius started chanting, "Snivellous Greasy, Snivellous Greasy." James joined in, "Snivellous Greasy."

"Come on, Sev, we can find a decent compartment somewhere," the girl said, standing up and scowling at them before leaving. She made it into the hall, but James tripped the boy.

"Watch your place, Snivellous." He said, "I don't particularly care for Slytherins."

The boy tripped out of the car, and once the door was closed, James turned to Sirius.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. You won't be a Slytherin, and if you are, you'll be the only one I have patience for."

Sirius shrugged, "He disgusted me, too, mate; I've got your back with him no matter what Houses we get sorted into."


	3. Chapter 3

The Hogwarts Express rolled into the Hogsmeade station that night and students of all ages and Houses clambered out, including four very excited eleven year olds. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew all fell off of the train steps in a jumble of arms and legs, and once off the train they all caught sight of Hogwarts castle in the distance, causing them to stop and stare in awe. From all sides they could hear other first years doing the same, and all of the older students passed them, laughing, until they disappeared, leaving only a giant mass of first years behind.

"Look at it!" James exclaimed, his eyes not wavering from the illuminated castle.

"Brilliant," Remus and Sirius both said in unison, Peter nodding eagerly from besides them, grasping his rat in his hands.

"How do you figure we get there?" Remus asked, looking towards his friends.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer when they heard shouts from behind them, in the direction the train had gone when it left the station.

"Firs' years!" a deep voice echoed, and all of them turned towards it, "All firs' years follow me!" Soon the voice's owner came into view; he was a large man, quite taller and wider than most, with black, coarse hair grown long down his back and a beard to match; he carried a lantern. "Firs' years going to the castle, this way!"

The man turned and began to walk the direction he had gone, and every first year left on the platform quickly stumbled over their feet excitedly, trying to keep up.

Eager, James ran forward until he was right behind the man, pushing his crooked glasses up his nose as he caught up, having to keep his pace quickened to keep up, "Who're you?" he asked the man, not noticing that Sirius had reached them until he saw him besides him.

"Rubeus Hagrid, keeper o' keys and grounds at Hogwarts," the giant replied, continuing to walk, glancing briefly down at the two expectantly.

"I'm James Potter!" James told him, clearly excited, before gesturing to James, "This is my friend Sirius -"

"Sirius Black," Hagrid cut James off. "I heard o' your family, even met a couple o' them."

Sirius looked disappointed by this news, and he looked up at Hagrid, raising his chest, "I'm not like the rest of them, I'm going to be Gryffindor!"

"Gryffindor, eh?" Hagrid asked, "Best o' luck to you, then."

There was grunting behind them, and James looked back to see Peter trip, having to be helped by Remus, who now had hold of the rat.

Several minutes passed until eventually, Hagrid reached the edge of a giant black lake and stopped walking; in the water were several canoes with lanterns attached. "Three to a boat!" he hollered once all of the first years had arrived.

James ran towards the first boat he saw, climbing in before waving towards the others, "Oi, Black, Lupin!" he shouted, "Get in!"

Sirius wasted no time running forwards and getting in before turning to face the others, "Remus, c'mon!"

"What about Peter?" the third boy asked quietly once he'd reached the edge of his friend's boat.

James and Sirius looked at each other before James opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by hearing a shriek from a few yards away; they all turned their heads to see Hagrid pick their friend up by the scruff of his neck and drop him into a boat with the red-headed girl and her greasy friend from the train.

"Oh, no." Sirius groaned as he saw the scene, "Not _them." _

"It's just a boat ride, Sirius." Remus told him calmly as he climbed into the boat and sat down.

"But it's _Snivellus." _

In seconds, all of the boats were filled, and then they began to go forward on their own, by magic, towards the giant castle.

* * *

><p>Reaching the castle, all of the first years eagerly climbed out of the boats and up the hill towards the castle that loomed in the distance. Hagrid made his way out of his boat and to the front of the group, waving them along and leading them into the castle, up the grand staircase to the oak doors where he told them that they were to wait before he walked inside and the doors shut behind him.<p>

All of the first years looked eagerly around the castle, taking everything in, and they all turned towards each other, talking quickly and anxiously about what House they wanted, what the castle looked like, and every other topic imaginable for the eleven year olds to run through before the doors opened again and they all immediately got quiet and turned to face the new adult.

She looked strict, with spectacles hanging on her nose and emerald green robes, a scroll in her hand, staring down at all of them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, her voice echoing through the space. "In a few moments, you will all walk through these doors-" she gestured to the giant doors behind her, "-and you will be sorted. Once you have been sorted you are to go sit with your House. Whilst here, your House is your family; you all must work together, take care of each other, and with luck you may help your House to win the House Cup. This is done by having the most points by the end of the year; any helpful attempts of rule-followings can earn you points, while rule-breaking or misbehavior can lose points."

"Looks like Gryffindor may lose," Sirius murmured to James, causing them to snicker while the teacher continued to speak.

The teacher shot them a look and continued to speak, "-Respect your classmates, and your professors." That was the last thing she said before disappearing back into the room behind the giant doors, and moments later she reappeared, "We're ready for you."

Each of the first years followed the woman through the doors and into a giant room; four long tables filled it, with one at the front, where teachers sat. Candles floated in the air, and the table benches were all crammed of older students in black robes, their House emblem on them. Banners for each House hung over the tables, and all of the older students clapped for the first years, some laughing, while the first years walked towards the front, staring around in awe.

The teacher in the emerald robes stopped once she reached the floor in front of the teachers' table, where a stool sat with an old, black hat atop it. James and Sirius exchanged a curious look, and in the next moment the hat began singing.

All of the first years stood in awe, in shock, while the hat sang it's song, and once it was finished, the teacher unrolled her scroll and lifted the hat, calling the first name...

Several minutes later, all of the students had been sorted and had taken their rightful places within their Houses; James, Remus, Peter, and even Sirus had gotten Gryffindor, along with several other first years, including the red-head from the train; a handful of their classmates had received Ravenclaw, some Hufflepuff, and the rest went to Slytherin, including Snivellus.

The professors were all introduced then by the headmaster, a man with a white beard named Dumbledore, and then the feast started, the food all appearing on the golden platters out of nowhere. All of the students cheered and dug in, the four Gryffindor boys taking it upon themselves to sample everything; or rather, James and Sirius did, while Peter tried to keep hold of his rat while eating and Remus ate a reasonable amount of food before the feast ended.

* * *

><p>Once the feast was finished, the Gryffindor Prefect stood and began directing the first years towards the Common Room. The journey was fascinating, and the boys were excited by the moving staircases and portraits as they made their way towards the tower.<p>

"Imagine how much trouble we'll cause," Sirius said, glancing towards James as they jumped onto a staircase, barely making it before it turned, the small space crammed full of eleven year olds, Remus and Peter behind them.

James grinned and looked around the wide area, leaning against the banister, "It's brilliant; it'll _be _brilliant."

Within minutes, all of the first years had followed the Prefect up the staircases and to Gryffindor tower, where they all stood and watched as the portrait swung open with a single word; they heard as their Prefect told them what the first password of the year was, and how it would change, and James, Sirius, and Peter all looked towards Remus.

"You remember that," James said, "Because we'll all forget by tomorrow."

Remus nodded and they climbed into the Common Room, looking around at the crimson and gold that surrounded the room.

"Boys dormitories on that side, girls on the other," the Prefect shouted, pointing. "Now get to bed, all of you, classes begin early tomorrow morning."

There were groans from all places of the room, but the first years began climbing the staircases towards their dorms; as James and the others began to make their way to the boys' stairs, James stopped paying attention and ran straight into a girl with right red hair who scowled at him, her green eyes giving him daggers.

"Oi, Evans, is it?" James asked, stopping in his tracks to look at her, the others stopping with him, "I bet you're glad you made Gryffindor and Greasy didn't, eh?"

"Stay away from me." she snapped, before running up her staircase.

"It's James, actually!" he shouted after her, "But I suppose that works."


End file.
